Thank you very much.
My name is John Anderson. I'm the director of government affairs and public policy for the Canadian Co-operative Association. The Canadian Co-operative Association is a national association for cooperatives. We represent more than 9 million cooperative and credit union memberships from over 2,000 cooperative organizations across Canada.
Our members operate in many sectors of the economy, but for today's topic we represent the large retail co-ops that sell foods and agrifood supplies, such as Federated Co-operatives, United Farmers of Alberta, GROWMARK, and Co-op Atlantic, as well as some of the large dairy co-ops, such as Gay Lea Foods, Scotsburn, and Northumberland.
There are many food-oriented co-ops that either market, process, or retail food. The organic food sector is growing rapidly, as are local food initiatives that promote and support growing, processing, and selling food within the same geographical region.
Our agricultural co-op development initiative, which we jointly manage with our francophone sister organization, the Conseil canadien de la coopération, is helping new value-added agricultural co-ops to get started. Currently we are helping co-ops involved in meat processing, blueberries, apples, specialty cheeses, and organic grains and pulses, as well as farmers' markets.
The current regime for labelling food products is confusing and inaccurate. We are pleased that this government is committed to reviewing current policies related to voluntary “Made in Canada” or “Product of Canada” claims and that this committee is conducting this study. The confusion in food labelling is hurting our Canadian farmers, and it misleads consumers.
While you all have used your own personal examples of food products that you find confusing, we would like to present a co-op example. I have it right here. Bee Maid Honey is the brand name for honey produced by the honey co-ops of western Canada. It's owned by 2,000 beekeepers. There is no other honey company in Canada that sources all of its honey from its owners.
There are two brands of honey on the grocery shelves. Bee Maid is 100% Canadian honey, while Billy Bee contains a blend of Canadian and Argentinian honey. In this example, the confusion is not created by the use of “Product of Canada”, because Billy Bee does not use “Product of Canada” on the label. But it does imply that it is a Canadian product by saying “Canada's favourite honey”, and the use of the grading designation, “Canada No. 1 White”, on the front of the label.
When consumers see “Canada No. 1”, they think it's Canadian honey, while the regulations relating to Canadian honey say that “Canada No. 1” can be either 100% Canadian honey or repackaged and graded imported honey. According to Bee Maid, the use of Canada in the grade name, and the requirement that it be on the front of the label while the country of origin of the honey can be on the back of the label, leads to a loss of sales and confusion in the marketplace.
There are many reasons to address proper food labelling and many factors to be taken into consideration. The first key issue is Canadian confidence in the food we buy. A study commissioned by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recently to understand how Canadians view the safety of Canada's food supply revealed an anxiety about the “Made in Canada” label and general frustration and mistrust about food labelling in general. Their report said that the “Made in Canada” label had low credibility. It was questioned because it was thought to guarantee nothing and was worrisome to consumers. This is a Government of Canada report.
Connected to this is consumers' demand for Canadian food. The same CFIA study, which undertook focus groups in November 2007, reported low confidence in imported food. Participants were concerned that some imported foods were more likely to contain higher levels of pesticides and were less safe than domestically produced food. As a result, more Canadians are actively looking for Canadian products and want to know the origins of the ingredients in their food.
A third issue is the sustainability of the Canadian agricultural industry. Accurate labelling of Canadian-grown food will help the farmers who produce it. We believe that proper labelling that shows the source of the food will encourage food processors to buy more Canadian ingredients, thereby increasing farmers' incomes. If proper labelling leads to increased demand for Canadian food, this could help our food processing industry and create more jobs.
The last reason is to reduce the environmental impact of transporting goods from other countries. The long-range transportation of food has a significant impact on climate change and the amount of air pollutants released in the atmosphere. In Canada, the transportation sector accounts for one-quarter of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. Also, as the distance food travels increases, so does the role of chemicals and the use of irradiation and processing to reduce spoilage before the food reaches the marketplace.
As a multi-sectoral association, we're not specialists in food labelling, so our recommendations to this committee are general. We believe the exact details of the revised food labelling regulations must be worked out in consultation with the major stakeholders.
Here are our major recommendations.
We recommend that the federal government create a system of labelling country of origin for the major ingredients or raw materials used in all processed foods sold in Canada. This will give consumers the information they require to make informed buying decisions.
We recommend that the federal government develop regulations for the use of a “Product of Canada” label, with a minimum percentage of the ingredients or raw materials from Canadian sources. We recommend the “Product of Canada” label refer to the content of the food rather than the costs of packaging or manufacturing.
We recommend that the federal government revise the grading system used for food products so that only products that meet “Product of Canada” criteria can use “Canada” in their grade name. So using examples of honey products, if a criterion for “Product of Canada” is 80% Canadian raw ingredients, then the Billy Bee blended honey would have to have 80% Canadian and 20% Argentinian before it could say “Canada No. 1”. Otherwise, it would simply say “No. 1”.
We recommend that the federal government undertake an educational campaign to inform Canadian consumers about the content of food labels and encourage Canadians to buy Canadian food products.
We recommend that the federal government broaden its activities and programs beyond the labelling issue in the following ways.
Develop a strategy for domestic food sustainability, ensuring that we grow and process more of our food needs within Canada. The growing costs of transportation, world food shortages, and consumer demands for safe food require the federal government to take some long-term action. This can be done within the Growing Forward agricultural policy framework or as a horizontal initiative involving federal departments.
Stimulate and support more food processing in Canada by bringing together producers and manufacturers to communicate needs and opportunities and continue the work being done by value chains.
Provide support to local food initiatives and food systems that create ways for consumers, community organizations, and farmers to work together to ensure more locally produced food.
Continue the funding with the agricultural cooperative development initiative, the AgCDI, which provides advisory services, learning opportunities, and capacity building for emerging value-added agricultural co-ops. This program ends in March 2009 and could continue to help more co-ops get started.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to present our position.